Understanding Active and Passive Voice Conversion

This question tests your ability to correctly convert a sentence from the passive voice to the active voice. The key is to identify the subject, verb, and agent in the passive sentence and rearrange them according to the rules of active voice construction.

Analyzing the Given Passive Sentence

The original sentence is in the passive voice:

Original Sentence (Passive): Nupur was cautioned by her mother against making a hasty decision about changing jobs.

Let's break down its components:

• Subject: Nupur (the one receiving the action)
• Verb (Passive): was cautioned (past tense, passive form)
• Agent (Doer of the action): her mother (indicated by 'by')
• Object/Prepositional Phrase detailing the action: against making a hasty decision about changing jobs

Converting Passive to Active Voice

To convert a passive sentence to active voice, follow these steps:

1. The agent of the passive sentence (the one performing the action) becomes the subject of the active sentence. In this case, 'her mother' becomes the new subject.
2. The passive verb form (e.g., 'was cautioned') is changed to its corresponding active verb form. 'was cautioned' (past simple passive) changes to 'cautioned' (past simple active).
3. The subject of the passive sentence becomes the object of the active sentence. 'Nupur' becomes the object.
4. The rest of the sentence, including prepositional phrases, usually remains the same or is adjusted slightly for grammatical correctness. The phrase 'against making a hasty decision about changing jobs' remains the same.

Applying these rules, the active voice sentence should be: "Her mother cautioned Nupur against making a hasty decision about changing jobs."

Evaluating the Options

Now let's examine each option based on the conversion rules:

• Option 1: "Nupur cautioned her mother against making a hasty decision about changing jobs" - This option incorrectly makes 'Nupur' the subject and 'her mother' the object. The original sentence indicates the mother cautioned Nupur.
• Option 2: "Her mother cautions Nupur about changing jobs in haste." - This option changes the verb tense from past simple ('was cautioned') to present simple ('cautions'). It also slightly alters the prepositional phrase.
• Option 3: "Her mother cautioned Nupur against making a hasty decision about changing jobs." - This option correctly identifies 'Her mother' as the subject, uses the active past simple verb 'cautioned', makes 'Nupur' the object, and retains the rest of the sentence structure. This matches our derived active voice sentence.
• Option 4: "Changing jobs in haste has been cautioned against by Nupur and her mother." - This option significantly restructures the sentence, changes the meaning, and remains in a passive form, making it incorrect.

Conclusion

Option 3 accurately reflects the active voice transformation of the given passive sentence, following all grammatical rules for voice conversion.